How Zaks runs a £5m restaurant chain with a part-time finance director

It all started with a love for American food, discovered by the founder while on tour in the USA with his band. Now, for over 50 years, Zaks has been delivering authentic American dining to the people of Norfolk. More recently, they have opened diners in Norwich, Poringland, and Great Yarmouth.

Six years ago, Ian Hacon and his business partner Chris Carr became the third owners of Zaks.

"Chris and I see ourselves as custodians of this iconic local brand," Ian explains. "It’s a place tied to multi-generational stories. Grandparents visiting in the '70s, then their kids, and now their grandkids. Our purpose is simple; to serve the warm and fuzzies."

Zaks has grown to over 140 employees and a £5 million turnover. Yet, its entire finance function is managed by Ian, who acts as part-time Finance Director, and his part-time Finance Manager and a little help from the Administrator. So, how have they maintained such a lean finance team whilst Zaks has grown?

Hitting a roadblock with business bank accounts

When Ian and his business partner Chris took over Zaks, their goal was to run the business as efficiently as possible. As an accountant, Ian knew that inefficient back-office processes could slow down growth. He wanted to implement software and financial processes that would simplify their work, not make it more complicated.

Ian's first step was exploring business banking options, but he quickly ran into a problem. The banks 'couldn’t offer much' to help a small-to-medium-sized business like Zaks manage and process day to day payments efficiently.

"Either you get a business-skinned version of their personal banking app, which has no dual authority or other important features. Or you have to buy the same complex corporate system they sell to FTSE 100 companies involving card readers, that is just clumsy and difficult. BACS is another option, but you have to get and pay for a license."

Having witnessed similar-sized companies employ an 'army' of finance staff just to process payments manually, Ian knew there had to be a more efficient approach. The alternative of logging into the bank to pay 20-30 suppliers individually twice a month was ‘completely impractical’ and for the size of their team, was going to be ‘just a total waste of time’.

Finding an app to easily pay restaurant suppliers

Ian needed an alternative to traditional banking that offered speed, simplicity, and control over Zaks' payments. Whilst searching online, Ian discovered Telleroo, an app that helps restaurants quickly and easily pay suppliers and staff in bulk.

"It doesn't cost any more than the bank, but even if it did, our time is way more valuable. Rather than sitting on a banking app, I can use that time on other things."

Telleroo stood out as 'the only real solution' for paying bills from Xero directly in the app, so the team didn't need to export and import payment files from Xero. In Telleroo, you can simply select the Xero invoices you'd like to pay.

"Telleroo took the pain away. We've been using Telleroo for many years, and although Xero and other apps now have their own solutions, it's the overall simplicity you get with Telleroo that means we can pay our suppliers quickly without complicating things."

Creating an accounts payable process that suits the hospitality industry

Working with multiple suppliers often means dealing with varying payment terms, a challenge that can become difficult to manage if left unchecked. Ian streamlined the process by standardising payment terms with most suppliers and using Telleroo to automate sending bulk payments.

Each month, Zaks processes two main bulk payments for suppliers: one mid-month and another at the end of the month. Gemma, the Finance Manager, prepares the pay run for approval. As the creator, Gemma proposes the payments, but, as an extra layer of security, does not have the authority to approve or send them without additional checks. The team can also address any exceptions to these payment terms in Telleroo:

"We have a waste supplier that sits outside of our usual terms. It's a crucial service, and one that can put our account on hold if we don't pay on time. We can send payments quickly in Telleroo. We can also easily send payments when suppliers have made mistakes and then corrected invoices."

At the push of a button, payment runs are then sent to Ian for initial approval. Ian can either approve all payments or cancel specific ones within the pay run.

Adding an extra layer of protection for company funds

Being vigilant to fraudsters' growing number of tactics, Ian decided to implement a dual approval process for Zaks' payments. After Ian's initial approval, the pay run is sent to Chris for final sign-off. This extra layer of protection is a 'good protocol' to protect company funds alongside Telleroo's standard fraud checks:

Ian says, "Everything has worked really well, and customer support is always there when you need them. Sometimes payments are flagged for things like the bank details not quite marrying up. It's always really quick, we know immediately and as soon as I email the fraud team to confirm the payment, they release it. We couldn't ask for any more than that, and have had a great experience with Telleroo."

“Telleroo has overall simplicity, does exactly what it says on the tin and has great support.”

🚀 Manage payments for multiple restaurants, hotels, cafes or bars, sign up to Telleroo today 🚀